Quicken Loans Capital Markets Update for January 8, 2010

The much anticipated December Non-Farm Payroll report was released this morning. Investors were expecting it to continue the trend of improved economic data. Specifically, payrolls were projected to be unchanged in December after falling every month since January of 2008 (23 consecutive months).

The actual number showed a loss of 85,000. The unemployment rate was also expected to be unchanged at 10.0%. The actual number came in as expected at 10.0%.

This leaves the report just 0.2% points below the 26-year high of 10.2% posted in October.

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A looming dispute involving online marketing programs that often place monthly charges on peoples’ credit cards without their knowledge shows little sign of ending soon.

Last month, Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat who chairs the Commerce Committee, took aim at several Connecticut-based companies that have angered consumers nationwide by placing mysterious monthly charges on their accounts as part of so-called “affiliate marketing” programs.

Particularly irritating to many consumers is the fact that many of them were patronizing large and supposedly reputable online businesses, including airlines and movie ticket websites, that proceeded to sell their credit card information to these controversial companies.

To avoid the charges, consumers have had to carefully read the fine print on their transactions and avoid clicking on any vaguely-worded pitches that claim to offer discounts, rewards or other such benefits. Read more…

TransUnion Settlement Benefits Delivered

For the old-school readers of 20somethingfinance, you may remember a post I did about 18 months ago on the TransUnion settlement from a class action lawsuit. If you didn’t sign up to receive free benefits at that time – it’s too late (sorry).

If you did sign up to receive benefits, good news may have come (or will be coming shortly). I FIN

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Recently Warranty Week Newsletter published a report on home warranty companies’ market share in U.S. While it is not clear how the estimates were made and what assumptions were in place, the estimated numbers seem to be in the ballpark and must give an approximate idea where the companies stand.

With 41% market share, American Home Shield leads the pack followed by First American (11%), Old Republic (8.3%), CCHS (6%), 2-10 HBW (5.3%), and Fidelity (4.3%). It is interesting to note that the major service providers account for only 76% of the market. A

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A few weeks ago, my wife and I planned a meeting with a financial advisor that was the representative for her 403(b) plan. Due to some rule changes, she was no longer eligible to receive an employer match with this plan, but she had been happy with their offerings and performance, so we had made the tentative decision to leave her supplemental 403(b) savings with that company.

Her advisor wanted to meet with us to facilitate all of these changes.

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This is a guest post brought to you by The Digerati Life, a site that covers all topics on personal finance, from reviews of online stock brokers to the best credit cards for your needs.

Could we be wasting money? You might wrongly consider yourself a frugal saver, but unfortunately, some of the best earners wind up throwing away money simply by going about their everyday activities. To obtain greater financial security without getting a second job, it would do us well to watch what we spend. Here are a few ways we may be wasting money without realizing it:

How To Waste Money in 9 Easy Steps

Remember that these are money drains and actions you should avoid making if you’re interested in saving money.

1. O

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How Bad Debt Management Can Really Hurt You.

Posted on | January 5, 2010 |

Many people realize too late that they have a problem managing their money. This epiphany usually comes when a 5 figure credit card bill is staring them in the face. It happened to me, and it can happen to you. I was lucky in that mine was a low 5 figure amount, and I had the income to pay it off myself with some belt tightening and 0% balance transfer offers from another credit card company.

But not everyone is so fortunate.

Many people have no where else to turn but to a debt management agency.

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